Hull doctor urges people to ‘work with them’ as GP shortages are on the rise
Figures reveal there’s one GP to every 2,800 people on average in the city
Last updated 12th Oct 2021
A Hull GP says they won't tolerate abuse from members of the public who're struggling to book an appointment.
It’s as staff shortages within the healthcare sector are on the increase with some areas in England seeing an increase of around 40% in people per GP since 2015.
Figures show Hull now has one GP for every 2,821 people.
Dr Mike Holmes, GP in Hull, said:
“Unfortunately I am seeing and hearing about lots of verbal abuse for practice staff as people try to make appointments - and actually that's not helpful. We're going to be taking a zero tolerance approach to that kind of behaviour.
“We’re all human beings trying to do a job. The key to this is that we work together through what's going to be quite a busy winter I think.
“Practices have not stopped - they've been seeing patients throughout and the number of patients seen face to face increasing. We've also delivered 75% of all the COVID vaccinations across the UK.
"We know the workload in general practice has been going up year on year and that's combined with a reduction in our workforce.
“My overwhelming message is to work with us - lots of practices are now using new ways of working. Certainly in my practices, about 30% to 40% of our patients are now registered to use the online system - which helps us and them.”